(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to (i) a viewing terminal apparatus that communicates information on viewing of contents including video, with a viewing statistics-gathering apparatus, (ii) a viewing statistics-gathering apparatus that gathers statistics on viewing of a content, and (iii) a viewing statistics-processing system including these apparatuses.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The audience rating is a result of statistics obtained by gathering information on viewing of contents, such as a television program. The producers and sponsors of contents use the audience rating as a barometer to measure the popularity of the contents. Furthermore, the viewers regard the top ranking of audience ratings as an indicator of trends of the general public.
The viewing statistics-processing system includes viewing terminal apparatuses and a viewing statistics-gathering apparatus. Each of the conventional viewing terminal apparatuses is connected to or included in a content display apparatus, such as a television receiver, and transmits a channel of a television program that is being displayed to the viewing statistics-gathering apparatus. The conventional viewing statistics-gathering apparatus automatically reads and sums the channels transmitted from the viewing terminal apparatuses to specify an audience rating for each television program. In other words, the conventional viewing statistics-gathering apparatus counts the number of viewing terminal apparatuses that have transmitted a channel for each channel, namely, for each television program, and specify the audience rating based on a result of the counting.
However, in the case where a television program is displayed on a content display apparatus in the conventional viewing statistics-processing system, even when the user does not view the television program (for example, doing other chores or sleeping), the user is counted as one of the viewers of the television program.
Thus, a television audience rating measuring instrument in Patent Reference 1 (Japanese Patent No. 2947289) corresponding to the viewing terminal apparatus can determine the exact number of viewers and whether or not a user actually watches a television program, by detecting the eyes of the user, in particular, the pupils of the user.
Furthermore, even when the user does not do other chores and the user views a television program, the user is not always interested in the television program. Although the user is not interested in the television program, he/she finds it troublesome to change the channel. Thus, he/she may view the television program regardless of his/her interest.
Here, Patent Reference 2 suggests an operation history transmission mobile terminal corresponding to the viewing terminal apparatus (see Japanese Patent No. 3886052). When the user operates the operation history transmission mobile terminal, the terminal transmits a face image of the user who is viewing an image of a television program or an image of the television program during the operation so as to be included in an operation record. More specifically, the operation history transmission mobile terminal measures a time period for which it is operated, generates and stores the operation record in which a result of the operation, the measured time period, and the image of the television program or the face image of the viewer are associated to one another, and transmits the operation record.
Furthermore, a viewer response information collecting system in Patent Reference 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-142975) corresponding to the viewing statistics-processing system collects viewer response data indicating responses of viewers to a content that is being reproduced (reproduction content). Furthermore, the system collects, from a user terminal, viewing data of the reproduction content that includes information on display-screen operation records. The viewer response information collecting system integrates the collected viewer response data and the viewing data in synchronization with each other, and generates viewing quality data indicating the user's qualitative responses to the reproduction content.
These audience ratings and the viewing quality (the user's qualitative responses) are information to be referred to as barometers mainly for the producers and sponsors of contents to measure the popularity of the contents. Furthermore, Patent Reference 4 suggests a system that presents the information to the viewers in real time to be referred to for selecting a content (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-153304).
In the viewing-information providing system of Patent Reference 4 corresponding to the viewing statistics-processing system, a central apparatus corresponding to the viewing statistics-gathering apparatus provides viewing statistics-information to a broadcast receiver corresponding to the viewing terminal apparatus. The viewing statistics-information indicates, for example, the audience rating for each channel. Each viewer can understand the statistical position of the channel or the content that is being viewed by the viewer, using such a viewing-information providing system.